Chapter 5: Answer and Truth
In war truth are so precious that she always be attended by a bodyguard of lies
-Winston Churchill-
"Wake up my dearest guardian, or you want me to blast a foghorn to your ears again?" Aria threatens with cheerful voice while floating up and down gracefully
"Yea, yea. I'm awake Aria" I reply with a tired voice, I haven't gotten much sleep lately, my meditation after the detective left until yesterday bears no fruit. I still have no idea about my darkness and how it could exist with light within me.
"I'm tempted to not wake you up my beloved warlock, seeing you jump out of the bed when I blast the foghorn is just too funny for me" Aria giggles
So, I get up from the bed, changed to my uniform and go downstairs, I see mother already in her business outfit, preparing breakfast and Izumi walk out of her room, we have breakfast, mostly mom doing the talking. After that Izumi and I go for school.
By the time I arrive at school, the class is already busy as usual, people chat here and there. But by the time in stepped into, they all went silent, looking at me with fearful eyes. It seems that they also watch me entering with fear and curiosity. I pay them no mind.
'It seems they also watched the news' I think to myself.
More and more people start to come in, however I neither see Bakugo, Majima or Izuna. Perhaps they're still reeling from the beatdown last Friday, perhaps they decided to change school seeing they no longer the strongest.
'Heh, how ironic if they decide to change school because of me'
The bell rings and so to the class starts Ms. Fujiwara start to call the names of each student, it was when the door suddenly fly opened and the three stooges come through crashing, out of breath and with a messy uniform
"Ah finally, I worry that you would not come Bakugo, Majima, Izuna. If you do not come, I would have to strike you as absent and that surely would have an impact with your report" Ms Fujiwara said
"Also, since you three are late please stand outside as punishment" Ms Fujiwara said, shocking me
This is not the first instance that those three stooges have been late, however, this is the first time they have to face the consequence of their action. Most of the time they bully other and when others don't give them what they want they would tell the principal a made-up story, and the principal would side with them.
"What? You cannot be serious sensei!" Bakugo replied, since he expects the teacher to let him of the hook just as usual.
"Yeah, sensei we just late for five minutes, can't you overlook this? Just this time" Izuna backs Bakugo up.
"The rules are the rules, if you wanted to be hero you need to start respecting them" Ms Fujiwara said
"Hmph, stupid rules for stupid extras" Bakugo grumbled but obey nonetheless
"Well let's start about our hero topic today, the start of the Golden age…."
I no longer pay any attention once the drama is over, I just wanted to see whether Bakugo would attack the teacher or not. So, I decided with daydream, looking absently to the window. The day is quite cloudy maybe today I could go to the roof alone.
As time goes on the subject finally change from hero Studies to Math and the three delinquents are allowed to return to class. Mr Fukushima is strict and he does not give a damn whether you have quirk or not, so unfortunately, I have to pretend to pay attention for this one.
"Izuma-san please come forward and solve this equation" sensei suddenly said, to Izuma whom has fallen asleep, suddenly jolt awake
"Y-Yes sensei" he walks forward, but cannot solve the equation.
"Hmm, Bakugo-san and Majima-san please come forward and help Izuma" sensei said, shocking the other two and of course they cannot solve the equation
"Hmph you three should've paid attention to my class, if you want to be a hero, you need to pass certain iq lievel, and if you keep your attitude, you would not be able to pass the test" sensei chastise those three
"Midoriya-san please come forward; you have never let me down before. Could you solve this equation?" sensei call my name.
"Yes" I simply replied, and solve the equation, but I deliberately made the answer wrong.
"The answer is wrong Midoriya-san, but the way you solve it is correct" sensei praise me
And the class keep going, subject change, teacher comes and goes, but the only thing stays is the silent tension of the class, perhaps sitting with a killer is the main reason for it.
The bell for lunch finally rings, as I prepare to go up to the roof I se Bakugo alone approach me
'Not this again…' I exasperatedly think to myself
"What are you doing here murderer?" he asks with a growl in his voice, "Shouldn't you be in prison?" he continue trying to pull my nerves
"Well, if you watched the whole news, then you should realize that the owner did not press any charges" I answer back at him
"Not only a quirkless, but also a murderer, you are the worst scum that I have ever met. A stain to this school" he said, still with a low growling voice
"Well, seeing that the school haven't sent me home, I beg to differ" I replied with a calm voice but with a smirk
"Bakugo is right, Midoriya-san should not study here anymore" a random student said
"Yeah, he's a murderer!" another encourages
"Murderer! killer!" another shout
It's not long after the whole class can't "Murderer" and "Killer" to me, but I pay them no mind. It's true I have killed so many times that I have lost count how much I have sent to the afterlife, the difference is the ones that I killed are either super robot, super aliens, gods of those aliens, warlord of a powerful faction, gods from the darkness and many more. I have never killed any mortal before
Suddenly a jingle from my phone broke my trance… I picked it up and check the notification. It is from Izumi with a massage:
"Meet me on the roof, we have something to talk"
'This cannot end well' I think
'Would you go meet her my beloved warlock? I have a feeling this has something to do with your newfound status' Aria whisper to my ear, her soft voice is a stark contrast with the chant that have died down
'I have to, she's my sister' I answered with a dread in my voice. Most of the times, Aria's hunch is the one that proven correct and I came to dread whatever she thinks of a situation could be
"Where you think you going huh murderer, deku?" Bakugo asks with one of his hands starts to emit explosions
"Izumi wish to speak to me" I replied with a bored tone
"Grrr, this is not over yet deku" he replied, no matter what Izumi is stronger than Bakugo, the difference is that she's able to control herself, while Bakugo is ruled by his desires and emotions
I pay no mind to him, and start walking to the roof, once opening the door from the stairs to the roof I see my sister looking at me with hatred, and from that I know where this will be going
"So, you have come huh killer?" she said, her words laced with venom and it truly hurt me. Even my sister would fall to the masses
"Look Izumi, I-" I wished to answer but suddenly a knife fly towards me, had I not dodge it would certainly stab my heart
"DON'T CALL ME WITH THAT NAME MURDERER!" she raged, another knife launch to me, now aiming at my face, as I duck, I sense the first knife that she launched fly back to me aiming at my back. I quickly side step
"Oi oi, isn't this a little too extreme?" I said, with uncertainty in my voice
"SHUT UP!" she raged, and as the knife keep flying and tries to stab me, I keep dodging
"WHY? WHY? I MUST SUFFER BECAUSE OF YOUR ACTION! EVER SINCE WE'RE LITTLE YOU CONTINUES TO MAKE ME SUFFER!"
"WHEN I WAS A LITTLE KID THE OTHER MOCK ME FOR HAVING A QUIRKLES BROTHER, THEY SEE ME AS A LESSER BEING! THEY SAID THAT IM NOT AS GOOD AS THEM BECAUSE OF YOU!!"
"NOW MOST OF MY FRIENDS LEAVE ME, THEY CALL ME A MURDERER'S SISTER, THAT I CANNOT BE TRUST!"
"WHY? WHY? WHY? ARE YOU ALIVE?" she raged as I keep dance between the flying knifes. But her knives are getting faster, more precise, more controlled.
"Izumi, sis- "my voice halted as a sharp sensation in my leg, a knife has stab through my leg, leaving a red stain on my black shoe
'My dearest guardian, you must do something. It is clear that she's hell bent on killing you' Aria speaks with a sense of urgency in her voice
'You need to go on the offensive, fighting defensive has never been your style my beloved warlock' Aria continues
'But what if she's hurt?' I replied, no matter what I made a promise that I will never use my weapon and abilities to the innocent, family and friends
'Then pop the Well of Radiance my beloved, and pray that this storm is near at it's end' Aria suggests
I cannot do that, I need to keep Izumi unaware of my light and my status as guardian, why? Because I have a feeling that the witness is here as well, is this world. Not necessarily in Japan, but here, in this reality.
"DIE" Izumi yell and launch both knives aimed at my face, I quickly pivot and then pounce on her, holding her down. With her concentration breaks the knives fall harmlessly to the floor. Even as I pin her hand she still struggles against my grip
"WHY? WHY? WHY? WONT YOU JUST DIE! LEAVE ME BE!" she wailed,
She weep, cries
Now her anger turns into a choking sob, she cries and cries and cries underneath me, unable to see her broken like this I let her go. And as soon as I let her go, she punches my chest, not hard enough to make me feel anything
'It seems that she already wasted all of her energy on controlling the knives' I thought
"I hate you, I hate you, I hate you" she said before her body went limped forward. I managed to catches her before she slammed herself into the concrete floor.
'I'm so sorry Izumi' I said to myself while limped to the nurse office
"Hello how may I- Oh my! What happened to both of you?" the nurse Ms Sora, shocked at my state, drenched in sweat, several cuts, and a big cut on my left foot. And she also surprised to see Izumi limped unconscious
"Okay, lay Izumi in the bed, I need to check your foot first" she said. As I do what she asks, she started to checks my left food
"Well, at least the wound's clean, and the shoe also prevent further loos of blood" she said after checking my blood red foot. She pours some alcohol onto a cotton and started to clean the wound, and then start to sew up the wound and bandage it.
"I have done first aid, but please go to hospital to properly treat it" she said while wiping her sweat. "What happened Midoriya-san?" she asks curious
"My sister dropped a knife after playing with it, the gruesome sight made her fainted" I lied
"Oh, okay please rest for now Midoriya-san" she said while went over to the other bed, checking Izumi
Suddenly, I feel tired, not in a physical way, not also in mental, but it is as if your consciousness is moving away from your body, leaving it in a fatigue-like state. Soon I fall into realm of dreams and nightmares. Light and Dark
When I regain my consciousness, I see a world of white, it feels… empty, it's not bright but also not dark, as I turn my head left and right scanning for any clue on where am I, I realized that there's two feminine figures in front of me
One is a tall figure with a bright white robe, the hood where a face supposed to be seen only a small black ball crackling with energy. She holds a bright white spider lily,
The other wears a hood but this one wears a dark black robe, and instead of a face she has a small bright white upside-down triangle shining in contrast of the darkness surrounding her. In her palm float a small knife
"I see" I muttered, for years I tried to cipher their existence, tried to know what they are. But the tomes of old are brittle and most lost to the anal of history. I only know their name and rough look, bet never their true meaning
I look to the white figure "The Gardener" I said, she nods
And the to the dark figure "The Winnower" I said, she nods
I soon kneel on the masters of creation and end, for they are the two figure that shape our universe, one is the preservation of growth and complexity, the other is of death and simplicity. The two basic building blocks of life
'So, it has come for this" The Gardener speaks
"So, it has" The winnower replied
"All of your journey is to reach this point"
"To reach us, to see your if you are wise enough to choose"
"One, light, complexity, life, community"
"One, dark, simplicity, death, personality"
"Who will you choose?" Both of them said
"….." I cannot answer, I think and think and think…
"In life, thigs born out of simplicity, out of dark, born out of consciousness, from it, it craves for a shape…
Life is simple, born out of everything and nothing, and those who live, managed to gain their right of existence. Those who do not would fail, they would lose their right of existence. In life we do not grieve for those who do not exists…
As we travel further, we tried to keep out right to exist, so we kill… so that from other's death other may live, from death comes live. From dark comes light." I said facing the darkness
"So, you have made your choice? Abandon me? Your creator? The source of your power?"
"Many other made by you, but not me, she made me according to her own image, she calls me her finest and most majestic art. She embraces me, for in the dark no one can judge you, no one can see what you're doing, for whatever you are the darkness accepts and welcomes.
She does not differentiate, who or what you are, in the darkness lies freedom, in the darkness your consciousness is pure, no other being to interrupt, to broke your image a world of darkness is free for each one"
"So, you have made your choice?" she asks
"But…"
"Life of simplicity is meaningless, foe life at the end craves for a complex system, to evolve, to strive. A life of simplicity is not living, and thus its existence is not worthy to exist so why would life stay simple?
Life at the end would change, and from that change complexity bloom, life would grow, to a complex one. Life is a process and not state, living is the culmination of that process that would continue to grow, to be more complex
And those who lost their right to exist left a mark in time, a mark that shows to the exist that even in their inexistence they exist.
Light exists in every being, whenever they once live or not, you cannot deny the light, within light lies a community, lies friend and foe, lies challenges to be better. Within light you have chances to improve, to deny stagnation, for to stagnate is no lose your right of exitance for the light do not wait"
"I do not know Gardener, Winnower, who should I choose…
The Law of the sword is absolute, that is no deny. But the law of the sword can only let you see with one eye, if life only move because of the sword, then what about the life that exist because of the shield?
What Life that exists and thrive with cooperation? What about the bees and the flower? What about the complexity of life that finally give birth to simplicity of dreams?
Perhaps there is the third way, a balance, a lynchpin, a golden path of life and death. One that never known before" I said with somber feeling
"So, punish me, render my soul, torture me, tear me apart, do to me all that you want. I could not give an answer…" I said with a hopelessness in my voice for not answering to Life or death, is to exists beyond the law.
"……"
None of us are talking, the other two look down at me, and I have no courage to look up to them, I resigned myself into the hand of fate
"Well said Guardian" Both of them said
my eyes suddenly went open, my face is an expression of shock
"For too long we desire a salvation, and now the salvation is here, for too long we want a child and here he is, for too long we wish someone to understand our voice, to hear us, to see us, and now his eyes are open, his ear listens. You understand the complex yet at the same time simple meaning of life, there is a beauty in simplicity of live, yet also a beauty in complexity of living."
"But why me? What about the Witness?" I ask them
"You are special made and molded by me, but her power flows through your veins, you are special for we deem it so, born in simple man, made to wield complex powers" The Winnower said in a soft voice, akin to a whisper
"A child conceived by both light and dark, made as prophet and voice, the one to truly understand the garden" The gardener said with a light voice
"But if both of you have me as the product of a same goal, why not the others? The Witness grown to hate all creation, the Hive born to be twisted by the dark unable to see the light, the vex, an abomination"
"The Witness is a fool, desire shape, consistency, order, trying to tame the unbridled chaos. Unknown, that the chaos of life is untamable"
"The witness failed to see, thought that he could balace by wiping out the complexity of life, thinking that only simple reasons should remain"
"Then, if you two are acting together, then why oppose each other? Why light and dark?" I ask
"Why indeed? Why light? Why dark? If all being the same purpose? For the same goal?" I hear both of them speak with a… glee? Pride?
"Unless…" I think and think and think, the more I think the more outrageous the reason seems but all thread of questions lead to the same conclusion
"There never is Winnower nor Gardener, the one that tend the garden is only one being that tends the plants and cut the rot, keeping the garden beautiful, healthy, meaningful. Their role mistaken by other as a winnower for those they cut, and the gardener for those they tend.
The Gardener is also The Winnower that prunes the rot and tends to new plants. And the garden is just life, but living. As all life draw our complexity from simplicity, nothing is more important than what gave rise to it" I draw the conclusion
And in front of me both "The Gardener" and "The Winnower" no longer there, as if they are never meant to exists. As I stand up wandering if my conclusion is correct, a voice rang behind me
"Correct, I know you will finally able to see the final shape" the voice said
I turn my body to see a figure of both light and dark, the source of my power and suffering, my hope and despair. The figure float above with a pristine white robe that shine, but the aura surrounds her black, like a darkness of shadow.
"So, my prediction is correct, I'm the final shape of the world" I replied to the figure
"You did not seem surprise to see me as your maker" the figure said
"Oh, I'm surprised alright, just I need to maintain my keep my headedness. Now I'll be the first to chart in to uncharted water, no book, tomes, or any other being, not those so-called gods, not Savathun, not those pesky vex, I'm sure that not even The Witness knows about this" I said facing the one that tends the garden
"You are correct, no one have ever seen me before, no one even knows my name" the figure said while pulling down her hood revealing who they are
"Do you even have name? I asked the one who tends the garden
"No, I never have. I don't think that I even bother to gain a name" the figure replied
"…. I don't know what to say…" I spoke
"Lies, you want to know why I choose you as my champion, my final shape right?" the figure said and I nod
"Because I hear your wailing, your desperation, your wish for a meaning, you wish to know why you exists. You almost drown in sorrow, burned by your curiosity, and almost killed by your desperation
But your heart is pure, your soul is truthful and they spoke to me, I know, despite your young age, you have seen the best and the worst of life and living. You have the experience of light and dark, you are wise enough to see the world not as a segment by segment. But by its whole"
"…." I could not say anything
"So… what should I do now?" I ask the figure
"All my life I have been yearning for an answer for the meaning of my existence, yearn for guidance. Now all of it is gone, and I'm afraid without meaning I would end up as The Witness"
"And how exciting that is…" the figure said smiling, they seems happy?
"To carve your own meaning, to build your own legacy, life is a canvas and you are the artists, the world is all of spectrum of color. So, why not paint an image according to yourself?
Is not that the meaning of life and living? To carve your own path, to choose your own are, you are the one that handle your destiny"
The figure said, getting closer and closer with me, two hand hold my cheek and lift my head so that I face the figure, their face look at me with a soft smile, but then their face hardens
"Now, it's time for you to choose your own path. So go my champion prepare yourself, for one day the false prophet will come. And when that day come the balance of the world would rest in your decision from today, until the day you meet him"
"I understand… I will not failed you" I reply with an iron resolve
'You never have failed my champion and I know that you never will" the figure replied
" I will always be by your side, my champion, my dearest guardian, mine beloved warlock" the figure said with soft voice, like a wind breezing though
"I know, thanks for always be by my side….
Aria"